Are Turkey's Spies Operating in America?

According to Turkish media reports, the Turkish government's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) gathered intelligence via its imams and other employees in 38 countries on the activities of Turks suspected of supporting the US-based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen.

Peter Pilz, then an Austrian member of parliament, last year revealed that he had received documents from a Turkish source indicating the existence of "a global network of informants" -- spanning four continents -- reporting to Turkey's Diyanet on alleged Gülenists. In most cases, these informants were religion attachés at embassies and consulates.

In 2016, the Diyanet Center of America (DCA) completed the construction of a $110 million mosque complex in Lanham, Maryland. According to the DCA website, "The result is a small village that will be an important cultural hub for all visitors and residents of Washington DC area." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the complex, one of many Diyanet-affiliated mosques in North America.

The Trump administration should be on guard. If Erdogan's mosques in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia are being used as a conduit to spy on Turkish nationals who possibly oppose his rule, is it not safe to assume that similar activity has been going on in the United States?

If Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mosques in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia are being used as a conduit to spy on Turkish nationals who possibly oppose his rule, is it not safe to assume that similar activity has been going on in the United States, for example, at the $110 million Diyanet Center of America mosque complex (pictured at left) near Washington, D.C.? (Image sources: Diyanet Center - DBull360/Wikimedia Commons; Erdogan - Getty Images)

According to Turkish media reports, the Turkish government's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) gathered intelligence via its imams and other employees in 38 countries on the activities of Turks suspected of supporting the US-based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Turkey's government accuses of organizing a failed coup attempt in July 2016. Diyanetreportedly requested from its branches abroad to submit their findings in time for the 9th Eurasia Islamic Council, which took place in October 2016. These findings were then reportedly submitted to the "Coup Commission" of the Turkish parliament (TBMM).

The findings included photos of the people who were being spied on by mosque employees hired by Diyanet and detailed information on the schools, companies, associations, foundations and media outlets allegedly linked to the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government has since labeled the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization" (FETO).

During a recent three-day state visit to Germany to discuss ways to "develop trade and economic investments... and how to effectively struggle against racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the inauguration ceremony of the Cologne Central Mosque, established by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DiTiB).

DiTiB, the largest umbrella organization of mosques in Germany, provides the financing and imams for the Cologne Central Mosque. It is also linked to the Turkish government's Diyanet.

In the two years since this spying was made public, the German government has been paying closer attention to DiTiB activities, going as far as to detain a number of imams. According to a February 2017 report by the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW):

DITIB says it only provides religious and cultural services and does not conduct political activities. Green [Party] politician Volker Beck, who filed a criminal complaint in December, said DITIB's claims of innocence do not add up.

"Diyanet, religious attachés at consulates and the local DITIB associations are an entity which normally executes the political orders of Ankara concerning religion. But at the same time this is an entity that is capable of acting as a secret service," he told DW.

He said people mentioned in the report have become victims of ongoing purges in Turkey, with some relatives of those informed upon being questioned in Turkey and people's bank accounts frozen.

The Turkish state's collection of information on Gulen activities has likely occurred "all over the world," Beck said.

As a result, the German government said in January 2018 that it would not approve funding for the DiTiB -- which has received about €6 million ($6.9 million) since 2012 for counter-extremism programs and for aiding refugees.

A week before Erdogan arrived for his state visit in Germany last month, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), began to examine the possibility of putting DiTiB under surveillance.

Sevim Dagdelen, the deputy parliamentary head of the Left Party, said:

"The federal government and the federal states must stop cooperation at all levels with Erdogan's outpost in Germany. It must be examined whether the preferential tax treatment of the association can be further justified. DITIB is not charitable, but a danger to the public."

Germany is not the only country to express growing concern over Turkish operations within its borders and beyond, however. Peter Pilz, then an Austrian member of parliament, last year accused Turkey of spying on suspected Gülen supporters in Austria, via ATIB, an umbrella organization headed by the religion attaché at the Turkish Embassy in Vienna, which oversees dozens of mosques in the country. According to Reuters, Pilz said:

"The ATIB umbrella group is an instrument of hard, ruthless and...legally unacceptable Turkish government politics in Austria, [which]... also monitors Turkish Kurds, Turkish opposition politicians and journalists in Austria."

Subsequently, Pilz revealed that he had received documents from a Turkish source indicating the existence of "a global network of informants" -- spanning four continents -- reporting to Turkey's Diyanet on alleged Gülenists. In most cases, these informants were religion attachés at embassies and consulates.

In 2016, the Diyanet Center of America (DCA) completed the construction of a $110 million mosque complex in Lanham, Maryland. According to the DCA website, "The result is a small village that will be an important cultural hub for all visitors and residents of Washington DC area." Here, too, Erdogan inaugurated the complex, one of many Diyanet-affiliated mosques in North America.

The Trump administration should take notice and be on guard. If Erdogan's mosques in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia are being used as a conduit to spy on Turkish nationals who possibly oppose his rule, is it not safe to assume that similar activity has been going on in the United States?

Uzay Bulut, a journalist from Turkey, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.

Comment on this item

10 Reader Comments

Ann Herzer • Nov 3, 2018 at 16:57

Turkey's alleged terrorist, Gulen, has his for profit charter schools on our military bases and in (by last count) 27 states. It has been alleged that he sends up to 80% of the profit from these so-called public schools back to terrorist groups around the world. The silence is deafening regarding Gulen.

Reply->

Hamish MacDonald • Oct 20, 2018 at 03:54

Good article.

Of course Turkey's spies are in the U.S., as they are everywhere, all located inside the Muslim brotherhood, and "The Project" with its many tentacles in various institutions and various countries.

What to do? Vigilance. Take nothing for granted.

Each move which is suspect should be monitored, no less stringently than the FBI's moves into many governmental interests, and the interests of decent Americans.

Not only spies everywhere, but paid for spying through the $2 trillion located in Sharia compliant banks. Not only paid spies, but donations to Islamic conglomerates which further the cause of a global caliphate.

Reply->

Bisley • Oct 20, 2018 at 00:27

Of course, the Turks have spies in America. They have spies throughout the world, and not only in mosques.

Reply->

Clifford Hall • Oct 19, 2018 at 23:03

There are 'spies', information gatherers, attached to every embassy in the world.

Reply->

John Forbes • Oct 19, 2018 at 16:08

With the West's virtual "open-borders" policies it must be virtual child's play to get spies in & out anywhere in the West.If Sultan Erdogan wants spies & information he will certainly have them.

Reply->

Michael S • Oct 19, 2018 at 15:41

"Are Turkey's Spies Operating in America?"

Is the sea wet?

Reply->

Marijan Favetti • Oct 19, 2018 at 15:00

We're indeed very naïve if we really think that the imams in our country only deal with spiritual issues. We must realize that Islam encompasses every level of a Muslim's life, from birth to the grave and everything in between!

Reply->

Ed in North Texas • Oct 19, 2018 at 14:32

Asking if Recip Tayip's spies are operating in the US is akin to asking if Pope Benedict XVI is Catholic. Before you ask, I deliberately did not use Francis as an exemplar of Roman Catholicism.

Reply->

Franck Prissert • Oct 19, 2018 at 14:19

Uzay, great insights as usual. Two words, in my mind. Da'wah, and Caliphate. Until People understand Da'wah, they will continue to be "surprised" by how "peaceful" Islamics turn into Jihadist Islamists. As for Caliphate, aside from the failed IS which was marginal in the first place, Erdogan is the only one who still has hope for a new one, in a neo-Ottoman world.

Reply->

Albert Reingewirtz • Oct 19, 2018 at 05:19

Why would anyone think that mosques financed by Turkey would be any different than mosques financed by Iran, Qatar or Saudi Arabia?

The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute.
Both reserve the right not to publish replies to articles should they so choose.
Gatestone Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, Federal Tax ID #454724565.